VIDEO: BEAUTY EXPEDITION TO TOKYO’S AKIHABARA NEIGHBORHOOD

Discover Akihabara and its unique anime-inspired local take on nail art.

The latest technology blinks, glimmers, beckons in packed store windows. Bright, bold images of famed anime and manga stars are splashed on billboards and posters. Throngs of Japanese locals and tourists flock to the shops to point, to purchase—to dive into the experience they’ve heard so much about.

This is Akihabara, the “Electric Town”—Tokyo’s mecca of electronic goods new and old.

Here, technology has manifested itself in two ways: the highest concentration of electronic products in the city meets a propensity for anime and manga (the Japanese cartoons popular all around the world). Akihabara is defined by an animated reality, which turns art into a three-dimensional experience—and proves to be the defining characteristic of this neighborhood. Watch our video to see anime-inspired nail art in action. LENA PARK